Eclipse's Odyssey: Day 8: 6.3.18

Sunday morning dawned bright and sunny. The fresh breezes of yesterday continued throughout the night and into the morning. They would continue for the rest of this day as well. After breakfast, we turned on the cabin heater to dry the rest of our clothing and bedding out. We had pretty well soaked our clothes and much of the interior with our wet things from the squall yesterday. Gary took a few moments to estimate the wind speed that we endured in the storm yesterday. Using the Beaufort scale, it looks like we endured gale winds (Force 8) up around 40 MPH!

Late morning and we were off to explore Bridgeport! We clambered down into Partial Eclipse and I rowed her ashore to a small beach across the bay in the community of Black Rock. Black Rock was an independent community and although it has been absorbed by the city of Bridgeport, the local residents like to call their community by it's local name.

We cached our dinghy on the beach, stored the oars and PFD's inside her and covered over with the tarp. Finally we locked her to a concrete block just to create enough of a deterrence against theft and we set out to explore Black Rock and to head into Bridgeport. The streets of Black Rock paint a picture of a tightly knit seaside community. As we strolled past houses whose front lawns were adorned with Azaleas and Roses, local residents we passed made sure to wish us a nice day and to say hello!

Cacti grow here on Connecticut!

Bridge of Locks?

We walked through the maze of small streets to arrive at the main thoroughfare and found a procession beginning a march down the main street. The local church was parading through, celebrating the first communion of their young patrons. The tree lined streets hosted a wide variety of Latino based businesses and restaurants. We caught the bus into downtown Bridgeport to our intended destination of Bass Pro so that I might procure some new sneakers as the current ones I had were beginning to all apart.

Bass Pro in Bridgeport

As it happens, we took the wrong bus back and ended up at an adjoining marina in Captains's Cove where we found a band playing on the dock. Sometimes taking a wrong turn can lead to wonderful new adventures. We danced to a live band and stretched our muscles happily after a week of little physical activity on board Eclipse.

Dancing at Captain's Cove

As we made our way back to Eclipse, we saw a seagull hanging upside down from a piling. The dockmaster let us in to see what we could do for the bird while he went off to tend to an incoming boat. The crying seagull had caught his foot in a crack in the top of the piling and toppled over. Gary ran from boat to boat on the pier looking for a boat hook. Finally procuring one from a boat at the far end, he ambled back and I took it and pushed the bird up as he bit the pole and slid him out of his confines. The poor seagull toppled down on my head and bounced into the water below. His leg was broken but he swam off without another sound. We hope that he will be able to survive but at least we freed him from his captivity and ungainly position in an upside down world.

Stranded Seagull in DIstress!

We strolled back to Eclipse, jumped in our dinghy and paddled her back to our floating home. Having scouted out a more amenable position against the upcoming storm when we were at Captain's Cove, we upanchored and motored up the channel to a new home for the night in a much quieter surroundings and protected from the wind. Rum and Pineapple drinks helped end a pleasurable day and one which we greatly needed after yesterday's storm!

Schooner with Gaff Rigging Entering Black Rock Harbor

Of Note: Bridgeport was once the largest city in Connecticut. It was also the home base for P.T. Barnum and his circus animals. Sikorsky Memorial Airport is here as well and is currently home to a renovation project to restore an old Corsair that was once one of many that was built in this facility.